Every Mile a Memory: Southern New Mexico

February 16, 2016

After Bob fixed our airbag in Big Bend, we got on our way at around 11:30; heading to Brantley Lake State Park in Carlsbad, New Mexico. With the change to mountain time, we arrived at 4:30 pm with a stop in Pecos, TX to fill up the RV. This is a pretty state park...but the lake isn't much to look at and we could smell petrolium from the nearby refinery wafting across the lake.

This is probably one of the biggest sites we've had at a state park.

I'm taking this picture from the large tent pad area beyond the picnic shelter.

There's so much open land throughout Texas and New Mexico.

We can drive for miles and miles and not see a building or home.

Mule deer in our campground, notice their large ears, hence the name.

February 17, 2016

This morning we went to the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens State Park in Carlsbad. It was a beautiful day to be outside (in the 70’s with a nice breeze). The zoo is only $5. They have a nice selection of animals native to the area. We saw hawks, eagles, javelina (very active), foxes, a black bear (Maggie), snakes, a large colony of prairie dogs (who had just been fed; fun to watch!), bison, elk, a mountain lion who was very active and fun to watch climbing up trees and rocks in his habitat, bobcat, and much more.

Javelina

Prairie dog neighborhood

The rangers had just fed them.

Mountain lion

Bison

We went to lunch at McAlister’s Deli then headed to a local park. Carlsbad dammed up two ends of the Pecos and made a lake recreation area. There’s a sidewalk path on two sides of the lake, we walked along one side. You can rent paddleboards, kayaks and other water craft on Saturday and Sunday.

Carlsbad Recreation Area

February 18, 2016

Dave took the jeep to Artesia due to a recall we were notified of via mail/Ryan. Also brought the jeep through a car wash to get the dust washed off…the southwest can get a little dusty. Now the jeep looks red again. Started planning our next few legs of our trip…trying to get it right so we end up in Mesa on time. In the afternoon we went to the Carlsbad Museum and Art Center. The museum focused on local and regional history, Native American art and artifacts and much more. We loved the old Wells Fargo stagecoach/mail delivery wagon, passengers often had to ride with their bags or mail bags in their laps, for weeks at a time! We also loved the displays of local artists’ work.

Then we headed to the library to catch up on bills and post a new entry on our blog. West Texas was sparse on wifi.

Wells Fargo Stagecoach

February 19, 2016

Spent the entire day at Carlsbad Caverns. What an incredible underground world!! Since the elevators have been shut down for months, you now have to walk down and back out of the cavern. So we started at the Natural Entrance and hiked the 75 stories underground. I think the entire hike was about 3.5 miles and well worth the workout! The Big Room was very impressive at 1,800 feet long and 1,100 feet at its widest, it encompasses 8.2 acres. We just walked along in amazement and awe at this incredible natural masterpiece! The only disappointment was the 400,000 bats have gone south for the winter.

Switch back path that leads into the caverns

The lighting in the caverns was beautiful

Yes, Dave was this happy!!

The Big Room was very impressive! It is the largest single cave chamber by volume in North America.

Stalactite chandelier

February 20, 2016

Taking it easy today. Road our bikes around the campground, then kayaked in the afternoon on Brantley Lake. No wind or current to speak of, so just floated around for a couple of ours. It was hot; in the 80’s so a bathing suit day!!

Kayaking on Brantley Lake

There really wasn't any coastline to pull ashore and walk around...

...so we just floated around.

February 21, 2016

Brrrr...it’s not a bathing suit day today! Woke up to 40’s and it only warmed up to the low 60’s. We made reservations at a couple of places for the upcoming legs of our trip in the morning. Left the RV at 12:30 for Sitting Bull Falls in Lincoln National Forest. It was 32 miles of deserted, twisting road through the Guadalupe Mountains with beautiful scenery most of the way. There were many warnings regarding free range cattle along the way and we saw our fair share along the road.

The falls were not visible from the parking area, but there were about ten sturdy stone enclosures with two or three picnic tables in each, bath rooms, and information boards with trail maps, history of the falls, etc… a short hike to the base of the falls was followed by a longer one to the top of the falls and the spring head. This hike again tested Wendy’s bravery as the falls are 150 ft high and the area around the falls and the Guadalupe Mountains are remnants of a Permian reef system, the same one that the Carlsbad Caverns formed in. So… many steep slopes and drop offs. Also, lots of fossils and bobcat scat. We never made it to the spring head but walked about a mile along the stream above the falls, then made the return trip.

Sitting Bull Falls (notice the guy standing at the top)

Dave standing at the bottom of the falls

Dave at the top of the falls

Hiking on a trail to find the spring head

Heading back down from the top of the falls. Wendy had to move to the side so some

hikers could get by. Good thing she didn't know how close to the edge she was. :o

Still heading down. You can see our jeep and the picnic area below.

February 22, 2016

We moved on to Boot Hill RV Resort in Alamogordo, New Mexico today. The trip from Carlsbad to Alamogordo along route 82 was very scenic. The landscape changed from flat and dusty oil fields to beautiful lush mountains with tall pine trees and even SNOW!!

Arrived around 1:00. After we set up we headed across the street to McGinn’s Pistachio Land. They have many different flavors of pistachios, all available for tasting. Dave tasted most of them…a lot of the flavors are spicy hot. We ended up buying a bag of regular, bacon & ranch, and lemon/lime. Yum! They also have a winery on site so we sampled some of their wines. We bought a bottle of Pomegranate wine…made with only pomegranates. And we bought Outlaw Red, which is a raspberry red wine.

Pistachio Land, ominous clouds in background were the approaching dust storm

While we were in the store, a dust storm blew up. We had never seen a dust storm…it was crazy!! Dave had to drive back to the RV to close the windows…he said he couldn’t even see across the street. Also saw lots of tumble weeds flying by. The only thing missing was the wicked witch of the west going by on her broom.

February 23, 2016

This morning we went to the New Mexico Museum of Space History which contains exhibits ranging from Robert Goddard’s early rocket experiments to a mock-up of the International Space Station. There were four floors of exhibits and also an outdoor area with rockets, including the Apollo program’s Little Joe II rocket and the rocket sled that John Stapp rode to 632 mph.

John P. Stapp Air and Space Park

Daisy Track

Dave landing the Space Shuttle. He only crashed the first time he tried.

The second landing was much smoother.

As we were viewing the outside displays before leaving, the weather went from just windy to a blustery snow storm that raced down the side of the mountain. Brrrr! We took cover at a local burger joint and watched the storm blow across the land.

In the afternoon we went to White Sands National Monument. We toured the visitor’s center, watched a video about how the white sands dune field formed and got a map of the dunes. The dunes have only been here about 7000 years and are the largest gypsum dune field in the world. Because the sand is made of gypsum rather than quartz (most sand) it is very soft. Gypsum is the mineral used to make gypsum board or better known as sheetrock. Then we headed out in the jeep to find a trail to hike. It’s a very windy and chilly day today (in the high 50’s with chilly breeze)!! (The weather in New Mexico has been interesting.) The ranger in the visitor’s center had suggested that we hike the backcountry camping loop trail; it’s a two-mile hike of moderate difficulty. The hike was fun despite the weather; neither of us was dressed appropriately – Dave in shorts, Wendy with just a windbreaker. The hike took us up and down the snow white dunes; dodging the pelting sand when the wind blew. We had to laugh because we looked so ridiculous trying to climb the dunes, dodge the wind, and keep moving. When we parked the jeep, we marveled at the fact that some adventurous folks were preparing to hike into the dunes and camp for the night. They probably had a great time because as the night went on the wind died down and the full moon rose. We also saw people sled down the dunes on flying saucer sleds purchased at the Visitor’s Center.

Even the roads are covered in gypsum sand

A blanket of white

Wendy in the dunes

Dave following the Backcountry Trail

Mountains of white, with the wind our foot prints disappeared in minutes!

Trail markers

With the wind blowing it was hard to see at times. Haha

Yes...we're still finding sand in our shoes.

At 5:00pm we met up with a park ranger to take a sunset hike. Brrrr!!!! But we learned a lot about how the dunes were formed, the plant life, and animal life…and the sunset looked pretty over the white dunes.

Our very chilly sunset hike

But it was worth it.

February 24, 2016

We left Alamogordo at 9:30 and headed for our next destination…Silver City, NM. We arrived at around 1:30. Our new neighbors, Bruce and Barb, showed up at the same time as us and we made plans to go to dinner with them. We set up camp, went to the office and got some brochures for things to do in the area, and started making a list of things we want to do. Also did some laundry. We went to Bruce and Barb’s RV at around 5, had a drink and then went to dinner at Little Toad Creek Brewery and Distillery. Dinner was good and Dave liked their E9 Pale Ale…and the vodka they make for my vodka, club and cran was also delicious. It was a fun night!

February 25, 2016

Our new campground has a coffee and donut shop. The donuts are homemade to order. It’s a dollar for a bag of six donut orbits…but it was actually a bag with a scoop full of donuts…so more like a dozen. They were yummy!! If you give them another dollar, you can drink as much coffee as you want all day. Today we did some touristy stuff…walked around downtown since our rv park is in downtown Silver City. We went to the Visitor’s Center and the Silver City Museum. Came back to the RV for lunch and then went back downtown to the library to get some high speed internet and make reservations for our next leg of our trip.

Silver City Museum

February 26, 2016

Drove to City of Rocks State Park today with a stop at Santa Rita Mine overlook? The park is a one square mile area in the Chihuahuan desert; elevation 5,200 feet. The “city” is a geologic formation made up of large, sculptured volcanic tuff (ash) columns rising as high as 40 feet and separated by paths or lanes resembling city streets. These rocks were formed about 34.9 million years ago when a very large volcano erupted. Then, erosion over millions of years slowly formed the sculptured columns. We wish we had camped here; the skies must be amazing at night as there is nothing but mountains surrounding the campground. All of the sites are named after planets or celestial bodies. Next time we pass through this area we will definitely plan on staying here.

Dave walking through the city of rocks

Outside the Visitor's Center

Saw this beauty on our drive through the State Park campground.

This is one of the campsites hidden among the rock formations.

Wendy at the top of the scenic overlook in the park. You can see the entire City of Rocks in the background and also part of the campground where they offer water and electricity.

After hiking through the rocks, we headed to Faywood Hot Springs, a rustic natural geothermal resort that has outdoor public and private soaking pools. We rented a private pool (temp 102 degrees) for an hour. It was very relaxing!

"Aaahhh!"

February 27, 2016

This morning we headed for the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument. The drive was long and twisty through the Gila National Forest, about two hours, but it was beautiful! The monument offers a glimpse of the homes and lives of the people of the Mogollon culture who lived there only from the 1270's through to 1300. They built rooms, made pottery, farmed the land, and raised children in the cliff dwellings for about twenty years.